Which to use
“indeed” is an adverb and “intend” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,697
- “indeed” frequency rank
- #6,152
- “intend” frequency rank
- 7849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indeed | intend |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Truly; in fact; actually. | To fix the mind upon (something, or something to be accomplished); be intent upon |
Where the eye mixes indeed and intend
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. indeed (VCCVVC) and intend (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between indeed and intend
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indeed is /ɪnˈdiːd/ while intend is /ɪnˈtɛnd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indeed is recorded at frequency rank #1,697, classified as anadv, pronounced /ɪnˈdiːd/. intend is at rank #6,152, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɪnˈtɛnd/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 7849, this pair ranks #505,301 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of indeed vs intend
Shared letters: dein. Private to "indeed": -. Private to "intend": t.
"indeed" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "intend" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indeed" for "intend" ever safe?
Frequency check: "indeed" vs "intend" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "indeed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intend" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #505,301 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indeed" and "intend" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indeed vs indented". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #505,301 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.